328 NATURE STUDIES. 



then abandoned ; the child remarking afterwards that 

 she thought of ' Snail ' as the first syllable, but it had 

 seemed to her too ridiculous. One of us has, more- 

 over, successfully obtained from the maid-servant a 

 German word of which she could have formed no 

 visual image. The children's own account is usually 

 to the effect that they ( seem to see ' the thing ; but 

 this, perhaps, does not come to much, as a known 

 object, however suggested, is sure to be instantly 

 visualised. Another question would be as to the 

 effect of greater or less distance between the sitters 

 and the guesser, and of the intervention of obstacles. 

 It will have been seen that, in the experiments con- 

 ducted by one of us on a former occasion, the 

 intervention of a door or wall seemed to make no 

 difference. It would be interesting, again, to discover 

 whether numerical increase in the observers increases 

 the effect, and how far the presence of special persons 

 is influential. In our experience the presence of the 

 father though by no means essential, and very often 

 dispensed with seems decidedly to increase the per- 

 centage of successes. A still more interesting and 

 important question concerns such conditions of success 

 and failure as may lie in the circumstances, disposition, 

 general capacity, and mood of the subject, including 

 such points as consanguinity and familiarity with 

 members of the circle, and also in the temper and 

 manner of the latter. We are dealing, not with 

 chemical substances, but with childish minds, liable 

 to be reduced to shyness and confusion by anything 



